16 Uses of Sticky Pine Sap for Wilderness Survival and Self-Reliance

Scavenging resources in a wilderness survival situation can turn up life-saving stuff. That’s why developing a possum mentality is vital!

Our ancestors walked our woodlands and learned to use the resources most modern outdoor enthusiast overlook. Essential woodland resources seem to be invisible to the modern eye. The stuff you’ve got packed in your woodcraft/bushcraft kit or bug out bag are consumable. You’ll eventually use up that roll of duct tape… or, more than likely, you forgot to pack it.

Not a problem. Pine trees produce a sticky substitute with superior benefits!

Learning to identify and use natural resources has gotten me out of many sticky situations in the woods. Pardon the play on words as we explore the many uses of this tacky, amber-colored pine sap I call Jewel of the Woods!

Collecting Sappy Jewels

Pine trees secrete resin as a defense to close wounds from insects or other forces. The sap provides a protective layer or sealant over the injury . The sap hardens forming an amber glob which turns dark in color over time. On fresh wounds, you’ll notice a whitish layer of sap covering the damaged area. With time, large clumps form making it easier to harvest.

Harvesting fresh resin can become a sticky situation. The fresher the glob, the more sticky and pliable. On dedicated Jewel of the Woods harvesting trips, I carry a grub knife, one I don’t mind getting covered with resin. To remove sap from my good blades in the woods, I use a bit of Everclear (190 proof) from my flask on a piece of cloth.

For hardened resin, poke a sharp object (grub knife or sharp stick) into the base of the glob and pry it loose. It’ll break off and fall into your hand or container underneath. That’s when you’ll notice the crystalized form inside which resembles a beautiful piece of amber stone.

B.) Glue/Epoxy – Pine Pitch

Pretty much any thing you need to glue or patch in the woods, pine pitch is the product.

C.) Candling Device

Place globs of dried resin in a fatwood torch to extend its burn time.

Pitch sticks, described above, can be used as a makeshift candles.

Melt sap and soak a cotton bandana or rag wrapped around a stick for a torch.

Melted or liquid sap poured over a dried mullein stalk works as candle/torch.

Mullein torch

D.) Fire Craft

Fire is life in a wilderness survival scenario. Even on weekend camping trips, fire offers core temperature control, cooking, and hot cocoa! Resin is your secret weapon to starting and keeping a fire going in wet conditions. Anyone who’s used resin-rich fatwood in rainy conditions appreciates its important role in fire craft.

Resin is highly flammable. Once lit, you can dry marginal tinder and small kindling.

Harvest liquid sap into a container from a fresh cut in a pine tree to add to a makeshift torch. Secure the container under the exposed bark to collect the sap. Use this liquified sap as torch fuel.

Once you learn to identify this sticky life-saver, you’ll find it difficult to walk past a pine tree without scanning for this Jewel of the Woods!

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Here in the north of Sweden we make a traditional healing salve from fir tree sap and tallow. Great stuff for healing deep, infected wounds. I’ve used it successfully, but nervously, on a bone deep, infected operation wound to my knee that wouldn’t heal. It’s gotten to the point where I hardly ever return home from a trek in the woods without a clump of sap.

Welcome to the journey to self-reliance, Carol! So happy to hear you’ve gotten started and you found this info helpful.

Keep in mind, in a true survival scenario, I’d drink untreated water to avoid dehydration. Most symptoms show up over 72 hours later. The typical lost hiker or hunter is located within the first two days or so.

I use pine sap for arthritis I mix it with wd 40 I put little bit of sap in an spoon and spray some wd 40 on it and hold it over the fire to melt and blend together let it cool some then rub where the pain is

I have a question about using it to glue plywood together with 11/4 x11/4 boards to build a pirogue ? I want to use natural materials instead of modern epoxy I also plan to waterproof the whole thing with a pinetar mix used by the Vikings. would like your thoughts
Thanks Russell

I’ve never attempted a water vessel. Sounds like a great project! I would think you’d need something stronger to hold the plywood together. Batches of pitch glue can become brittle if the right ratio is not there. Scott Jones, my primitive skills mentor, mentioned once that sweet gum sap in the mix makes it more pliable. I know that’s not much help. It’ll be interesting to hear what you come up with for adhesive. Keep us posted, please sir!

Hello, and greets from the middle of the Great bear Rainforest…. In this area we can gather and even tap resin. I’ll try the borehole method because it’s standardised and known to cause minimal insult to the tree, and yields a clean stream. I’m wondering what you can tell me about using the Woodpecker method to induce some resin flow that we can let dry and go back and snap off the bark later as it dries into short strands and small globs. There’s plenty of ground here that won’t grow a straight board but is wonderful open exposure for a resin tree.

Hi, my son and I have noticed that there are 4 very distinct colours, can you please explain the process or why this is so and if there are any special uses for each colour ( other than your above explanations? We collected bright red ( the colour of blood) white – fresh and soft, orange and an in between ( amber). Any feedback will be appreciated . Thanks

I normally collect the soft freash white stuff but it will darken with age. The soft freash is best for small wounds and insect bites, the old harder stuff can be melted down in an old pot on the fire and would be used with string soaked in the sap to caulk canoe leaks

I do believe the different coloration comes from the different ages of the resin. A lot of white I find is very brittle and not very useful in the process. The best I’ve find is the orangeish, softer resin. It may have to do with your location as well.

I just climbed a pine tree. It’s was really cool and the wind moved me and the tree around. It was a great experience with all that including climbing to the top and going back down. I then realized after a minute that pine sap was stuck to my military tight long sleeve shirt. So I’m here and really interested in all these cool survival tips with pine sap! If you want message me back some info and I would like to see more unique ideas of survival tips with pine sap! This is really interesting to me and like it a lot!

Lots of good stuff. Just one more thing, it is also good for patching tires. Went for a 4 day hike and someone iced picked all 4 tires. I used welding rod stubs and pine tree sap to plug the holes and drove home, it also helped to have a 12 volt air pump.

Hey.. Thanks for sharing this great post. It’s very useful and straight to the point. I didn’t know that pine sap can be used for medical purposes. Very interesting.. I’l keep that in mind and if I come across a pine tree, I’ll be sure to try to do some experiments with the guidelines you mentioned here XD. It’s important to familiarize ourselves with any survival skills as preparations. We can’t predict the future.

When speaking about survival, it reminds me of one of my favourite survival book. It’s really easy to understand and very useful in so many ways. It contains so many survival guides that most of us don’t even know of. My favourite part of the book is that it helps the readers to learn making their own medicine using medicinal plants that most of us don’t even know that it can be use for that purposes. The book teaches how to identify and prepare the plant for medical uses. But that’s just a small part of it. There are so much more survival guidelines in that book.

Fantastic reading. Just thought I would add a little humor.
I was introduced to Ponderosa Pine pitch in 1935. My mother took me to one of the hugh, well 24 inches was hugh to a five year old, pines in the area where we lived in northern Idaho. She explained the difference; real good, medium soft/hard and very hard. The very hard ones were about the size of an adults little finger tip. “Clean off the loose stuff, put it in your mouth and let I soften and start chewing. Only chew the hard stuff.” It was great. I loved the smell. Still do.
Well one day I decided to see what the soft/hard stuff was like. After all, it was softer, it would be easier to chew. I took several bites and my teeth stuck together. I tried everything to pry my teeth apart. I went without dinner and breakfast. The stuff finally dissolved so could get my mouth open. But my food tasted like pine pitch for some days. My parents never scolded me. They knew I would never do it again
So when I introduced my children to chewing pine pitch, I told about my lesson.

Hello, I though I was the only one so in tune with pine wax.
I just collected some wax from a pine tree and I only did because it smells really good. I want to be sure if is good wax to eat?
Is it from the right pine tree?
My wax has come out from a hole but it looks like it has come out in a exesive amount. Is not transparent orange like yours. Mine looks like white non transparent paste with red little debris from wood or tree I guess.
Let me know if that a possible to eat it
Thank you

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